Stasis
by DracoNako
Summary: Chara relives their death over and over and over again... until Frisk falls into the ruins. Finally... maybe... Chara believes they can finally break the cycle and pass the curse along. One-shot
**Blah blah blah, I don't own Undertale, yeah. Just my take on the lore, the Genocide route, and Chara in general. I rewrote this like... three times. Comments/feedback greatly appreciated.**

 **Before you get confused... _Italics_ are Chara's thoughts and  Bold are the thoughts of a character that's neither Chara nor Frisk... nor anyone else in the Undertale universe. Unless it's dialogue, in which case it's quotes from the game directly.**

* * *

The buttercups still taste bitter in my mouth. No matter how many times this day stops and starts again, that one fact remains. All else blurs together in some putrid cacophony. Even Asriel's voice...

That fool. No matter how many times we repeat this day, no matter how many times I try to resist...

I can't feel even myself rotting anymore. I've been stuck in stasis for far too long.

Sunlight shatters the darkness. A voice asks, "Can you hear me?" beforfe hands grab my shoulders and shake me. The voice fades into nothing. Then, incessantly, "Hey. Chara. I don't think this is a good idea."

My stomach aches something fierce now that I think about it. My SOUL holds the same familiar weight I've felt countless times before.

"Chara, you need to wake up now." More frantic. Every time we've performed this song and dance, he's always lost it right about...

 **Here.**

"Chara!"

I'm suspended now, supported by strong arms as Asriel lifts me off the ground. I blink open my eyes and stare at the fur on his face.

"Good. You're awake." He tries to smile, like he has so many times before.

 **You poor, miserable fool.**

"What are you doing?" It's futile - I know this - but the words leave my mouth before I can stop them. I suppose, though, that this is to be expected. I get just a little bit stronger each time I relive these moments, but still...

 **You don't have any control here.**

"Chara." Asriel's voice cuts through my mental fog and I stare up at him. It's an immense effort to even raise my head.

"What?" I ask.

"I don't think this is a good idea." His eyebrows knit together. I really don't. Remember what happened with dad?"

 _Monsters are more resilient. Everyone knows this._

"I'll be fine," I reply, despite myself. "I mean, the old fool is still standing, right?"

 _I won't be... I won't be... the cycle will just continue, like it has time and time again._

"Stay determined. We're almost there."

My eyelids flutter shut. From somewhere far off there is screaming, and then...

"Asriel. Stop."

There's a different sort of DETERMINATION inside of me now. Not the type that keeps me alive every time we're in this moment, but a new kind that stirs my SOUL from depths I didn't realize existed inside of me.

"Cha...ra?"

I reach out to him, testing... testing... My hand grasps at soft fur and I close my fingers around it. Already I feel myself growing stronger.

"Asriel, I feel a bit better now." I open my eyes and give him the best smile I can muster. "Can you put me down?"

His hold tightens. "That's not a good idea."

"Come on, now. You're carrying me like a corpse. The least you could do is let me walk myself to my grave."

At this, a frown splits Asriel's face in two. His fur pales, if that's even possible. "N-n-no!" he blurts out. "Y-you're not going to d-d-die, Chara"

"So put me down, then. Please?"

"B-but..."

" _Please_ , Asriel. For old time's sake."

After a moment, my furry companion angles me towards the ground and sets me down feet-first. No amount of repetitions can prepare me for the sudden disorientation that consumes me the moment I touch down.

"Chara, please -"

"Stop."

The golden flowers are almost in my reach. I could close the distance now, if I really wanted to.

But I don't I know what will happen the moment I step onto the flowerbed. I have felt the crippling coldness that will swallow me whole. I know what fate has in store for me.

 **Stupid, stupid fool, to think any of this would ever change.**

Against my will, my feet are carrying me towards my demise. Pixels form in the air around me and swarm towards my final resting place. Through the black, I see glimpses of another timeline, another location... but my DETERMINATION is not enough to push myself past the inevitable.

"Do..." his voice cracks and I grimace. "Do you remember when I first found you, Chara?"

"Yeah." _Five steps away._

"You've always loved chocolate... Mom still keeps some around."

"I know." _Three..._

"I don't want to do it, Chara."

"I know."

"I _can't_ do it."

"I know that, too." The black swells. I fall to my knees just one step away from the flowerbed and admire the swirling mass of pixels. A child almost exactly my height stares back at me, the same and yet... different somehow.

"Do you think we'll meet again?"

Invisible claws rip into my stomach and tear my SOUL apart. My lips part in a silent scream.

" _Chara!_ "

White. White upon white upon white. I'm falling and there is nothing to catch me, and all the while images and voices surge through me.

 **"What _is_ your name?... 'Frisk?' That's a nice name."**

A voice asks, "Can you hear me?" before fading away...

 **"Do you think even the worst person can change...? That everyone can be a good person, if they just try?"**

Asriel. Sans...

My thoughts freeze on the one name that is not familiar to me.

 _Who... is... Frisk?_

White turns to yellow and orange and green. The child who is me and yet not me stands before Asgore with a knife in their hand. Their chest heaves just a little bit. A bright red locket sits around their neck. _My_ locket.

 **"Now, now. There's no need to fight..."**

A golden flower with a disconcerting face leers over Asgore's shoulder. Just as the child lunges for the monster king, several white pellets materialize from nowhere and shred through Asgore's frame. The king falls to his knees and bursts into shards, his SOUL floating in their midst. None of us move towards it and it dissolves after several seconds.

 **"See? I never betrayed you!"**

The scene warps. We shoot backwards through time. Screams pierce the dreamscape and monsters whirl past, yelling about the fallen child with the heart-shaped locket and a sharp dagger. Scene after scene flashes before my eyes. Toriel... Papyrus... Sons. All the imbeciles who were too gullible and fell for Frisk's - and, at one time, my - tricks.

My DETERMINATION was never strong enough to get me out of the loop. But this "Frisk" character... maybe...

The scene shifts again.

All is red.

Frisk is stabbing the flower over and over and over again.

 _Flowey... How do I know that name?_

The flower is riddled with tears and holes, covered in dust and splattered with blood. Frisk stands on the other side of Flowey's ribbony corpse from me, _my_ knife at their side. Their gaze rakes through me.

 **To believe you were always in control... foolish.**

 _You. You will do just fine, I think._

 **"Since when were you the one in control?"**

 _Yes... I do believe the two of us will be great partners..._


End file.
